12 year old arrested for scribbling on a school desk …

February 18, 2010

There was no profanity, no hate. Just the words, “I love my friends Abby and Faith. Lex was here 2/1/10 :)” scrawled on the classroom desk with a green marker.

Alexa Gonzalez, an outgoing 12-year-old who likes to dance and draw, expected a lecture or maybe detention for her doodles earlier this month. Instead, the principal of the Junior High School in Forest Hills, New York, called police, and the seventh-grader was taken across the street to the police precinct.

These zero-tolerance rules and the reactions of school officials and police have gone beyond ridiculous. They’ve been going beyond it for too long now. It’s time to back off people! Jeez….

Who the hell are the juveniles here, really?

In Clayton County, Georgia, juvenile court judge Steven Teske is working to reshape zero tolerance policies in schools. He wants the courts to be a last resort. In 2003, he created a program in Clayton County’s schools that distinguishes felonies from misdemeanors….

Last week, after hearing about 12-year-old Alexa’s arrest in New York, he wasn’t shocked.

“There is zero intelligence when you start applying zero tolerance across the board,” he said. “Stupid and ridiculous things start happening.